《洞玄灵宝钟磬威仪经》

At that time, Perfected Zhide, together with five hundred Perfected Ones, came before the Most High. They performed the rite of prostration and asked to be instructed in the ritual norms to be observed when the assembly is summoned.

The Most High said, “Those who come to gather are of two kinds: one is the holy assembly, and the other is the ordinary assembly. When blessing assemblies are held—lectures on the Jing (scripture), purification and fasting, worship with repentance and thanksgiving, and the deliverance of the living and the dead—all those concerned should come and assemble, and should heed the summons given by the striking of the bell.

“Long ago, the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning expounded the scriptures and taught in the Heaven of the Form Realm (the celestial realm above the Realm of Desire). At that time the listeners did not arrive together: some came early and some came late. The Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning then manifested ten auspicious signs. Light shot forth from between his brows and shone through all the heavens, as well as through five hundred million worlds and innumerable lands, so that every place could hear, and by this he displayed his divine power. He proclaimed the mysterious Dao (the Way) of ‘True Unity,’ gathered the Jing (essence) of the Five Harmonies, and fashioned innumerable precious bells. In accordance with the regions of every quarter, the precious bells together sent forth numinous sounds. The sound spread through heaven and earth, clear and resonant as jade vessels striking one another, performing the Cavern Stanzas (the sacred musical chapters of Daoism), pealing day and night in correspondence with the twelve double-hours.

“All living beings who heard the bell felt joy arise in their hearts, and every affliction was thereupon dispelled. Those without faith thereby came to faith; those not yet awakened thereby opened into understanding, giving rise to every kind of wholesome wisdom and bringing forth upright intentions. From that time on, the established order of the bell sound spread throughout the ten directions.

“You ask now because you wish to awaken the wisdom of living beings. Disciples who prostrate themselves, and beginners of later generations, hear the sound of bells and chimes yet do not understand the ritual norms that correspond to it. They wish to know whether the rites in the various heavens, like those of the lower world, are each distinguished by rank and grade.”

The Most High answered, “In the upper realms of the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing, the highest heavens where the revered deities of Daoism dwell), and across the Three Realms and the ten directions, the names of each place, and the greatness or smallness of its rank, are not the same. I shall now first set them forth in outline. Listen carefully.”

The Most High (Taishang) said: In Daluo Heaven (the supreme heaven spoken of in Daoism) there are the Nine-Brilliance Flowery Bell, the Seven Luminaries Divine Bell, the Cavern-Light Floating Bell, the Flying Jing (essence) Void Bell, the Great Radiance Cloud Bell, the Heaven-Opening Light Bell, and the Spontaneous Divine Bell. In Yuqing Heaven (Jade Clarity) there are the Phoenix-Born Heaven Bell, the Flowery Treasure Cloud Bell, the Empyrean-Flame Numinous Bell, the Jade Dragon Flowery Bell, the Void-Brilliance Precious Bell, the Nine-Union Light Bell, and the Myriad-Transformations Jasper Bell. In Shangqing Heaven (Upper Clarity) there are the Flying Jing Void Bell, the Great Radiance Cloud Bell, the Heaven-Opening Light Bell, and the Spontaneous Divine Bell. In Yuqing Heaven there are also the Phoenix-Born Heaven Bell, the Flowery Treasure Cloud Bell, the Empyrean-Flame Numinous Bell, the Jade Dragon Flowery Bell, the Void-Brilliance Precious Bell, the Nine-Union Light Bell, and the Myriad-Transformations Jasper Bell. In Shangqing Heaven there are, further, the Ten-Flowers Precious Bell, the Four-Flowers Phoenix Bell, the Lightning-Radiance Bright Bell, the Dragon-Radiance Bright Bell, and the Luan-Soaring Flowery Bell.

In Taiqing Heaven (Great Clarity) there are the Bell Compounded of Nine Jing, the Hundred Treasures Void-Brilliance Bell, the Cloud-Congealed Flowery Phoenix Bell, and the Heaven-Flying Dragon Bell. In the Nine Heavens there are the Self-Sounding Flowery Bell, the Nine-Colored Light Bell, the Myriad Treasures Flowery Bell, and the Great Spontaneous Bell. All these bells are formed by the condensation of spontaneous true Jing and marvelous Qi (vital energy). They are luminous and transparent, divinely wondrous, and endless in their transformations; their forms change in countless ways, more than words can tell. Some are large and some are small, and they sound of themselves as the cycles of time turn. Their voices are full and resonant, yet harmonious and refined, and they answer in accord with the gods and spirits.

In the Four Brahma Heavens (one of the celestial realms of Daoism) there are the Life-Delivering Divine Bell, the Longevity Numinous Bell, the Life-Succoring Divine Bell, the Demon-Dispelling Divine Bell, the Soul-Returning Divine Bell, the Demon-Restraining Divine Bell, the Demon-Subduing Divine Bell, the Evil-Quelling Divine Bell, the Spirit-Wielding Precious Bell, the Immortal-Gathering Gem-Jade Bell, and the Return-to-Truth Harmonious Bell. In the heavens of the Three Realms there are the Bell of Preserving Life, the Bell of Flourishing Joy, the Self-Sounding Bell, the Bell of Securing the Realm, the Bell of Answering the Mandate, the Bell of Precious Years, the Bell of Prolonged Harmony, the Bell of Long Life, and the Bell of Protecting the Spirits. All these bells are cast from the gold of the purple phoenix and the azure dragon, and from treasures that light the night and illumine the empyrean. Receiving the Qi of the Nine Heavens and the fire of the Nine Springs, they are smelted and refined together into completion.

In Wanli Heaven there are the Lotus Bell, the Soaring-Cloud Bell, the Graceful Phoenix Bell, the Intertwined Dragons Bell, the Extended-Years Bell, the Disaster-Dispelling Bell, the Adversity-Delivering Bell, the Realm-Protecting Bell, the Life-Stabilizing Bell, the Life-Preserving Bell, the Bell of Cultivating the Allotted Span, the Weapon-Warding Bell, and the Demon-Dispelling Bell. These bells are cast and carved from gold, silver, copper, iron, fine jade, and precious gems, and they are exceedingly numerous. They sound at such hours as the six periods, the nine periods, or the twelve periods. Beside each stand numinous officials who govern the bell tones, together with jade lads and jade maidens, fierce beasts of golden Jing, lions and evil-warding bixie, and vajra divine kings, who guard and attend them. Day and night they strike the bells, so that all living beings may be inspired and awakened.

Thereupon the Most High conferred upon Zhide the precepts and rules of Keyi (liturgy) for dignified ritual comportment, and made them known throughout the Three Realms and the ten directions, so that all living beings might hear and understand. Zhide bowed to the Most High and reverently received these forms of dignified comportment.

The Most High (Taishang) says: The bells used in the world may be made of gold, silver, copper, or iron, in forms with two, three, four, six, or nine corners, or with no corners at all, and their size is set according to actual need. The bell is to be hung in the terraces, pavilions, and halls on the left. At the appointed hour, the Daoist priest puts on complete ritual vestments (the garments worn when performing religious rites) and, following the ritual, offers invocation, recites scriptures (jing), chants praises, and strikes the bell. In striking the bell, one first strikes rapidly, then slowly and at wide intervals three times; eight strokes count as one rapid measure. One then strikes rapidly again, followed by twenty-four slow, spaced strokes; after that one strikes rapidly once more, and finally twelve slow strokes, and the rite comes to an end.

The Most High says: Outside the appointed hours, the bell must not be struck at will. If one does not wear complete ritual vestments, does not purify body and mind and offer invocation and recite scripture, or if the striking of the bell loses its proper measure, one will be examined and punished by the Five Emperors (the deities who govern the order of the heavens). After death one falls into the cold ice, and after passing through a hundred kalpas one must still bear the retribution of rootlessness. The utmost care is required.

The Most High says: When a Daoist priest dies, the bell is to be struck three hundred and sixty times, so that people may know that he has passed from this life.

The Most High says: The chime may be made of gold, silver, copper, iron, or jade. When rites such as pacing the Way (Dao), worship, scripture recitation, praise-chanting, and purificatory fasting are performed, the chime is struck to keep the rhythm; all chimes should be set on frames and hung. Zhide then set forth thirteen chapters of invocatory hymns:

Daybreak (when the sky has just grown light)

The Six Brahma realms (the pure domains of the heavens) answer Heaven’s Pass, and ten thousand celestial emperors come to audience in the cloud palace. Fragrance drifts and scatters, aglow against the red sun; the sound of chanting turns with the clear wind. Divine immortals and Perfected beings scatter jade blossoms, and wondrous music spreads throughout the sky. The host of sages attends the assembly at the appointed time, and those both far and near hear the bell.

Sunrise

Purple Tenuity (the celestial abode of the Supreme) sends forth heavenly light, and Qinghua (the eastern realm of Azure Blossom) gives rise to clear, ringing immortal tones. Myriad scenes illuminate the cloud palace, and the immortals pay homage toward Jade Crag (the immortal mountain). Music resounds through the open sky, and its lingering notes shake the precious grove. We celebrate the exquisite joy of this heavenly realm, and my heart, sunk in gloom and obstruction, is thereby eased.

The chen hour (seven to nine in the morning)

Parting the clouds and mist, one ascends the lofty galleries of heaven and looks about the Nine Clarities (the lofty, remote heavens). Recalling how one once traveled above the clouds, one lowers one’s head and hears a hollow, far-reaching sound. The turmoil of the world is not worth looking upon; only the mysterious music of the immortals is truly worth hearing. One sounds a clear, ringing tone like jade, and with it dispels the deep, pent-up feelings of the heart.

Late morning (the hour of Yuzhong)

The Jade Maiden holds the subtle and wondrous pivot; the golden bell sounds, and its voice carries far. The tolling awakens beings throughout the heavens and delivers the departed souls in the Ninefold Darkness. Suffering spirits, wrapped in clouds of Qi (vital energy), leave the gloomy depths, and sunken souls rise with the turn of the hour. The power of the divine is beyond conception, and the sound of the Dharma spreads through the formless realm.

Noon (the hour of Zhengzhong)

The Great Void contains the Six Qi—Yin, Yang, wind, rain, darkness, and light, the vital breaths of heaven and earth—and the supreme Dao (the Way) disperses the primordial Qi from which the myriad things first arise. A Brahma-tone threads the earth like a ribbon of silk, and the sound of the Dharma drum comes from the edge of heaven. When outer conditions are empty and still, the mind of itself grows quiet; when feelings and thoughts cling and tangle, the will grows only more disordered. Listening closely to the bells of these six hours can dissolve the many cares within the heart.

When the sun’s shadow slants west (the hour of Riying)

The Round Lad turns the sun-wheel in the sky, and the divine maiden governs the hidden, subtle pivot. Through day and night the passes of the heavenly realm open and close with the hours, and the stars move in accord. The phoenix’s cry answers the twelve hours, and the dragon soars back and forth through the count of one hundred and six (a cyclical reckoning in the Daoist calendar). Striking a bell-tone clear and lofty as fine jade manifests the majestic De (Virtue/Power) of the Celestial Worthy.

The Shen hour (the hour of Bushi)

Four dragons course in accord with the Dao of Heaven, and the Five Emperors urge the sun-chariot onward. Immortal maidens in the moon scatter precious fragrance, and blossoms like fine jade descend from the palaces amid the clouds. Ten immortals listen to the Dharma bell and gather together at the immortal mansion where the Most High dwells. Beings thereby remain long free of the five sufferings and often chant the songs of the Hollow Cavern (Daoist hymns in praise of the Great Dao).

At sunset (the hour of Riru)

The pivot by which the myriad heavens turn is raised on high, and day and night revolve in endless succession. The Most High proclaims the holy teaching and makes it known throughout the world. True Kings are established according to the conditions of each place (perfected divinities who govern a region), and the various offices are assigned. Immortal lads strike the jade bell, and the host of sages pays homage at the gates of the heavenly realm.

Dusk

Crimson sunlight leads the radiance of day, and the purple moon-wheel rises upon the night. The two luminaries, sun and moon, alternate in their course, and the four seasons never rest. The Jade Lad sings out that the hour has come, and the precious bell at once rings with a clear, resonant tone. All bow to the Unsurpassed Honored Divinity and, following in the retinue, ascend to the Golden Portal (the palace towers of the heavenly realm).

The hour when people have settled (deep in the quiet of night)

Sunlight sinks into the dark places, and moonlight brightens the palace chambers among the clouds. From the pearl terrace comes a clear note like precious jade, and a fragrance like fine jade fills the azure halls. The Hollow Cavern (the heavenly realm in Daoism) sends forth wondrous music, and the faint bell holds within it a profound melody. Together all praise this music of emptiness and stillness, and its clear tone travels far upon the wind.

The Numinous Lad opens the Star Gate, and the Holy Mother comes riding upon a cloud-dragon. Sun and moon take one another’s place, and day and night succeed each other without cease. In every place under Heaven incense is set burning, and from the sky descend perfected beings of countless kinds (Zhenren—immortals who have attained the Dao, the Way). Celestial music clear as jade resounds through the great void, and purple smoke rises from the golden censer.

Cockcrow

Within the realms of five hundred million heavens and the three-thousand great-thousand worlds, each of the four quarters has regions where immortals dwell, and divine bells stand everywhere. The Brahma-sound (Fanyin—the pure and solemn voice of scripture recitation) fills the Dharma-realm, and mysterious, wondrous music draws in a numinous wind. The causes and conditions of which Daoism speaks ever abide, and merit is never exhausted.

Verse of the Ever-Sounding Bells and Chimes

One washes the body and puts on the celestial robe—the ritual vestment worn for Zhaijiao (purification ritual)—rectifies one’s thoughts, and faces the Luyun Terrace. When the appointed hour arrives, the bell is to be struck. Immortal sages tread the void and come. The causes and conditions of which Daoism speaks ever abide, and merit is never exhausted.

Verse of the Ever-Sounding Bells and Chimes

One washes the body and puts on the celestial robe, rectifies one’s thoughts, and faces the Luyun Terrace. When the appointed hour arrives, the bell is to be struck, and immortal sages tread the void and come. The beautiful tone of the bell reaches Xuandu (the immortal realm spoken of in Daoism), and golden incense curls about Ziwei (the palaces of heaven). Hosts of celestial riders gallop among the clouds, and the immortal realm of Jiuhua appears beyond the high emptiness. Phoenixes wheel in flight, and lions run bounding in every direction.

Jade maidens array the jasper tables, and immortals sit upright reciting scripture. They bow in full reverence toward the ten directions, visualizing in their hearts the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), the three supreme deities venerated in Daoism. The Celestial Worthy dwells within the void, elusive and hard to see, and from the beginning without any fixed form. He is pure, still, and luminous, spontaneously numinous and wondrous, able to respond to a sincere heart. The Western Consort plays the jasper chime, and together they bring forth the vast, far-reaching sound of the Empty Cavern. Guiltless souls in the hells are set free, while Heaven reports the names of the good. At a single stroke of the bell, all the multitudes bow their heads and listen in silence.

The Most High says: At the beginning of the Longhan kalpa (the opening of a remote cosmic age spoken of in Daoism), this hymn was transmitted by the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning to all the heavens. When kings and emperors recite it, soul and spirit grow clear and at ease, and the many true deities descend into the palace halls. When the bell is struck to offer this hymn of blessing, the sound of the bell and the sound of recitation spread together, ringing through the ten directions, gladdening the myriad sages and granting pardon to the souls in the Ninefold Darkness (Jiuyou—the dim underworld). When men and women chant it together, the land may be at peace, and for generation after generation blessings and good fortune may long be enjoyed, without ever coming to an end.

The Most High said: When the assembly gathers, one should listen for three strokes of the bell, set one’s cap and sash in order, and prepare the incense. When the prolonged ringing of the bell has ended, one should compose one’s bearing and purify body and mind, then raise one’s voice together with the Brahma sounds, the tone solemn, dignified, and proper. Once the circumambulation before the seats is complete, one strikes the stone chime in measured rhythm. Whether human or celestial deity, sage or ordinary person, all gather by this means. These ritual forms should be observed with earnest care; otherwise one may incur the punishment of the Five Emperors.

The Most High said further: In the Mysterious Capital (Xuandu, the immortal realm of Daoist legend) there are eight exquisite jade bells, set upon the terrace of the mid-heaven. They answer and harmonize with the six Brahma Qi (vital energy) and revolve through the twelve mechanisms; even without being struck they sound of themselves, and their tones spread through the ten directions. When the Perfected hear the bells, they bow toward them and assemble at the Mysterious Capital; the various heavens likewise take this as their standard. The Perfected of Wisdom and Virtue, together with the five hundred who had come with him, upon hearing this all declared it good, paid their respects, and withdrew.